After skiing at Whiteface last weekend, it felt good to be back at Gore again today. The stretch of cold weather we've been enjoying has allowed the snowmaking crews to resurface apparently every trail - or at least all the ones we skied - with chalky and very consistent packed powder.
Our warm-up and end-of day runs on the lower mountain were fun, but the place to be was at the summit, where every trail was in nice shape with edgeable snow, fun bumps and a bright blue sky. With summit temperatures hovering around zero you didn't want to sit still for long, but there's nothing wrong with that!
Heading up to the summit, Uncas was in great shape with guns blasting, really fun to ski. But heading back down from the summit we paid the price: the ride back up the Topridge triple was brutally cold and windy (though I'll never admit that to Beth).
The surprising thing about the snow on the summit trails was how consistent conditions were from one trail to the next: firm but carvable packed powder, small to moderate bumps, some snowmaking whales. Daniel and I did laps on Chatiemac, Rumor and Lies while Beth stuck to Chati, Hawkeye and Open Pit. Lies turned out to be our least favorite (some scratchy sections, odd-shaped moguls) and Chati our top pick-of-the-day. Chatiemac, with its twists and drops, is always a fun trail when conditions are good, and today's fun bumps and soft snow made it a winner.
Rumor was a close second for pick-of-the day. Chalky, edgeable snow made it possible to ski right over the headwall (I still cheated out to the right), into the moderate (for Rumor) field of rounded bumps below. I don't think anyone skiing Rumor today felt the cold one bit.
If there is any complaint about conditions, it's that the glades aren't in play. Chatiemac Glade was open and Daniel and I skied a run through there. Surprisingly it didn't seem to have gotten much traffic and we found some decent snow, but the woods need a bit more snow to improve coverage and soften the surfaces. I'd say 6 to 8 inches would do it. I'm pretty happy now that we got a good fill of tree skiing earlier this month.
It's roughly the mid-point of our ski season. Already it's been a much better year than last. It looks like we'll have a bit of a bump in the road next week in the form of a brief warm-up. After that, it looks like winter's back.
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